


Tired of Being Nice

by Vinization



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Evil Steven Universe, Gen, Heroes to Villains, Steven Universe is a Diamond, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25986241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinization/pseuds/Vinization
Summary: Steven, having had enough of carrying everyone on his shoulders, fully embraces his heritage.One-shot inspired by a tumblr prompt.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 50





	Tired of Being Nice

**Author's Note:**

> TL;DR: The Diamonds don't ruin Garnet's wedding, and sh*t happens because of that.

\------------------

It had been a couple of weeks since Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding.

Steven would be lying if he didn’t say that said wedding was one of the happiest moments of his life: not only Garnet had been reborn, her love stronger than ever after her components’ dramatic separation, but Lapis Lazuli came back during the party that took place after the main ceremony, bringing the barn that she had taken into space with her, much to Uncle Andy’s relief in particular.

All in all, tears were shed, apologies exchanged, jokes made, awesome songs played, typical wedding stuff really. And there weren’t any unwelcome arrivals either, which was a welcome break from all the horrible and difficult situations the Universe family had been put through ever since Topaz and Aquamarine began kidnapping Steven’s human friends.

The days that followed were slow and easy (there weren’t many corrupted gems to fight, and it seemed that Homeworld forgot about them for the moment) and everyone was happy: Garnet was back, Lapis and Peridot had begun to settle their differences (a long process), Pearl had gotten into a real relationship with the Mystery Girl, and Bismuth was free.

Everyone except Steven himself, that is.

No matter how much he tried to stop himself, the boy just couldn’t help but get angry and bitter at Pink Diamond for all the issues that he inherited from her. She abandoned her duties, trapped Bismuth, faked her own death and lied to her family and friends about it, put a gag order on Pearl and started a war that led to the shattering and corruption of millions of gems. But why was he having these awful thoughts? At first, he simply pushed them away: his family was happy, and that was what really mattered. He couldn’t ruin that by acting like a brat.

Like his mom…

But as the days passed, the thoughts persisted, and the hybrid asked himself a question: why were they all so happy? _Because of me_ , came the answer. He had done so many good things for all of them, such as healing Connie’s eyes and teaching her that she was important, showing Peridot and Lapis that Earth wasn’t all that bad, freeing Bismuth twice, giving himself up to Homeworld to keep everyone else safe and finally repairing Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship.

And yet, did even one of them at least ask him about how he was handling everything that had happened? No! None of them did!

Amethyst was the one who came closest to doing so after Pink Diamond's identity was revealed, even swearing that she would never fall apart on him, but soon enough she began to slowly relapse into her normal, laidback self (there weren’t many things for her to worry about at the moment, or so she believed). Pearl and Sapphire, who were supposed to be the most mature Crystal Gems, just cried on each other’s arms like infants for hours, leaving Steven and Amethyst to do the hard work of finding Ruby and talking to her. Finally, Ruby decided to do that ridiculous (but honestly entertaining) cowboy thing before eventually deciding to marry Sapphire. Now that he thought about it, the boy was amazed at how he didn’t roll his eyes on that day, not even once.

This was so unfair! He was just fourteen, a **child** , and yet he carried everyone else on his shoulders as if he were an adult! And now it turns out that he owned the entire planet he was standing on, along with all of its inhabitants. Shouldn’t they be helping him? Shouldn’t they be treating him like the almighty Diamond that he truly was, instead of the little child they saw him as, even as they pushed all of their little issues and put him on all sorts of dangerous situations?

Slowly, Steven’s body began to change, as did his demeanor: he was becoming more rude, less patient and more reclusive. But nobody realized what was wrong, for the boy suppressed his physical changes by shapeshifting and his emotional ones by acting like the cheerful, happy kid that he always was.

Even these solutions were only temporary, however, and Steven began see himself as a butterfly that wasn’t allowed emerge from its cocoon, even though doing so was a completely natural part of its life cycle.

Which finally brings us to the night when everything happened.

Steven was completely alone at the beach house. Garnet was busy on her magical honeymoon with herself, Pearl was having a date with the Mystery Girl, Amethyst was doing her own things, Connie was with her family and Greg was probably sleeping in the van. The boy was supposed to be asleep by now, but he couldn’t keep his eyes shut for long.

He wasn’t unhappy or angry, no, quite the opposite really. He had been waiting for this very moment for days now. The moment when he could finally drop his innocent, cheerful disguise without anyone to stop him.

The hybrid silently made his way to the bathroom and shut the door, ensuring that no one could see him from the outside. Once that was done, he took a good, long look at his reflection before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

The gem began to work its magic as soon as he breathed out, and Steven began to feel a warm sensation coming from his bellybutton. He refused to open his eyes, choosing instead to bathe into the feeling, and by God did he enjoy it. Were he able to describe it, he would probably compare it to a snake shedding its old skin or maybe even to being born a second time. The boy curled up into a fetal position and hugged himself tightly, not wanting it to end.

It did end, much to his disappointment, and Steven slowly got up, finally opening his eyes once he was fully upright. The hybrid’s heart skipped a beat when he looked at his reflection on the mirror.

Steven couldn’t help but smile: he was much thinner and at least as tall as Rose now, and also wore a more regal version of his mother’s outfit that made him look more like a real ruler instead of a clown. Guessing that these new clothes were created by his gem (his original ones were nowhere to be seen), he continued to examine his new body, his smile growing wider and wider the more he saw.

The diamond in Steven’s navel, no longer hidden beneath a shirt but now in plain sight, had rotated back to its true shape, and his skin was now a very pale shade of pink, his hair a slightly darker one. But the detail that received the bulk of Steven’s attention was his eyes, and when he looked at their reflection more closely, he almost squealed in joy. Their once brown irises were now a very bright, glowing pink, providing an excellent contrast to their new, diamond-shaped pupils.

“Oh my Stars…” Steven muttered, mentally congratulating himself that even his way of talking was more gem than human now. “I… I… I’m not dreaming, am I?” He pinched his arm, and though it hurt, nothing happened. Not satisfied, he did it again, and then a third time just to be sure.

The Diamond giggled upon realizing that the situation he was in was very real. Soon enough, these giggles turned into laughs, then into guffaws and finally very loud cackles. This was actually happening! Not only he fully embraced who he truly was, but also purged himself of his humanity in the process!

“Yes, yes, YES! FINALLY!” The once innocent hybrid screamed maniacally while grabbing the mirror and ripping it from its original place just so he could take a closer look at himself. He was so beautiful now, he feared he would fall in love with himself! And those **eyes** …

Outside, Greg suddenly woke up from his sleep in the van with a gut feeling that something was seriously wrong, and decided to check out the house just to be sure. Upon seeing that Steven wasn’t in bed, and hearing the insane laughter coming from the bathroom, the retired musician grabbed a baseball bat that was nearby (when did the Crystal Gems ever have one of those?) before barging into the scene.

“Who’s there?!” He shouted, scared but still summoning all the courage he could, before gasping and freezing on the spot.

“Well well well, look who we have here…” The Diamond said with a serious voice and expression as he rose to his full height and looked straight into the human’s eyes.

“Who the heck are you?! What did you do to Steven?!” The terrified father said while gripping his wooden weapon, shaking.

“Who am I, indeed?” Steven said with a small smile as he slowly approached the man he once called ‘Dad’. “I asked myself that question more times than I could count… And as you can see, I found my answer at last, **Gregory**.”

“Y-you…” Tears began to well up in the musician’s eyes when he realized who the huge, terrifying stranger which stood before him was. He wanted to deny it and say that he looked and talked nothing like the boy he loved so much, but there was no other plausible answer. “What happened to you?!” He said, unable to say the hybrid's name.

“Oh don’t be dense.” Steven rolled his eyes. “You didn’t really think I would stay on that pathetic little flesh disguise forever, did you? I simply grew and matured into the person I’m supposed to be. Nothing wrong with that, is there?” The hybrid said smugly before pinching Greg’s cheeks as if he were a toddler. He could probably crush his skull if he pinched hard enough…

 **No.** Not now, at least.

Greg dropped the bat and collapsed on his knees, unable to fully process what was going on. Half of his mind shouted that this person couldn’t be the same Steven he loved so much, while the other lambasted him for not stopping this before it was too late. How could he be so blind? Most importantly, what was his son going to do?

“Aww…” Steven said as he grabbed the wooden weapon, which looked more like some kind of toy to him thanks to his size, before crushing it into dust without any effort at all. “How **adorable**.” He was having way too much fun, and he was just getting started…

Greg was already quietly bawling his eyes out on the floor at that point. His son had turned into a monster, and it was all his fault. He should’ve known that this gem stuff was too much for him…

“Ugh, how predictable.” Steven groaned in disgust as he exited the bathroom. Before leaving for good, however, he decided to he had to tell some final words to the man he once looked up to, or else his new mission wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun as it could be.

“Hey.” He said.

No response.

“ **Hey.** ”

Nothing.

“Hey!”

Nope.

“Are you deaf, you little ape?!” Steven finally had enough and simply grabbed Greg by his sides. The musician fearfully looked at his son, eyes still heavy with unshed tears, but at least he stopped crying.

“Good, I thought you wouldn’t ever stop. Now…” The Diamond began. “I want you to tell Garnet and the others that this pathetic mudball is going to fulfill its purpose very soon.” He then put the human on the floor (and was oddly gentle while doing so) before walking to the warp pad.

“And when that happens, I’ll be watching everything unfold from the front seat. After all, someone in this family just has to do what he’s supposed to, right?” Steven finished with a shrug before disappearing.

The hybrid smiled contently after reaching his destination, a vast and seemingly empty desert. His mother’s ship was somewhere in the middle of this wasteland, and once he found it, he would get in contact with his real family.

Oh, he couldn’t wait to bring this planet to its knees…

**Author's Note:**

> Poor, poor Greg...
> 
> No, I don't intend to expand this, there are enough things for me to do as it is.
> 
> Comments? Thoughts? I hope it wasn't too edgy.


End file.
